of kitchen love, culinary adventures, family travels, and momhood bliss

Foodstagrammin’ In Hong Kong

This post is all about food, food, food, and more food. In all of my trips to Hongkong, I always make it a point to try something new and revisit my old time favorites. I don’t necessarily follow popular recommendations because taste is universally personal and subjective but I do read and take note of some blogs and whenever I get interested, I go and give them a try, and sometimes, I even write about them too.

In this post, you’ll notice that I went back to my favorite street food stall and barbecue restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui. But you’ll also see new ones like a Michelin-star resto and a newly opened Austrian bakery. Let’s move on, shall we? 🙂

WAH KEE SNACK FOOD SHOP

The street food scene in Hong Kong is one of the most diverse in Asia. It’s a favorite of many because it’s a feast that can awaken all your senses and the food’s usually cheap too. But do you know that street food in Hong Kong is taken very seriously? For the first time, the Street Food category has been added in the renowned Michelin Guide for Hong Kong and Macau 2016 where 23 street food places in Hong Kong have been included. Check the guide out if you want a good starting point for exploring Hong Kong’s culinary attractions.

My favorite street stall, Wah Kee Snack Food Shop, is not even Michelin-starred but is close to my heart because I’m a “regular” for about 10 years now. They sell all sorts of balls, meats, and seafood on sticks. My favorites are the grilled squid and sausage (make it spicy if you’re visiting during the cold months).

Wah Kee Snack Food Shop, 4 Prat Avenue, Tsim Sha Tsui, HK

GUANG DONG BARBECUE RESTAURANT

No trip to Hong Kong will be complete without a meal at our favorite barbecue restaurant which is Guang Dong Barbecue. The place really is not that clean but has improved since the last time I was there. It used to be my favorite alternative to the expensive barbecue restaurants but I kinda noticed during my last visit that the prices are not cheap anymore. Actually, I find them to be on the mid-range to the expensive side. Well, that is because I still consider Guang Dong Barbecue as a hole in the wall restaurant. Nevertheless, the barbecue pork was still awesome as ever, and the same thing goes for the stir-fried beef noodles that we got. You can easily find this restaurant as it is just about a 4 minute walk from Exit B2 of Tsim Sha Tsui station.

Guang Dong Barbecue, G/F 37 Cameron Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, HK

JENNY BAKERY

And then I painstakingly queued for 6 tin cans of the famous Jenny Bakery cookies. This is an incredibly popular treat that has even fueled Hong Kong’s cookie black market. You’ll see tons of similar cans being sold in all over Hong Kong (knock-offs/counterfeits) but you buy at your own risk. I would suggest that you prepare to fall in line and visit a legit store. How long is the line?

Okay. I visited the Tsim Sha Tsui branch and found no lines in front of the store. I opened the door and stepped inside but was escorted out by a staff member who told me to queue at the back of the building. I followed her directions and was able to get to the back of the building just fine. I just could not find where to queue because there were lots of people there who seemed like they’re waiting for a bus or something. After observing for a minute, I realized that there’s someone from Jenny Bakery out there and she was like holding a placard with the Jenny Bakery sign on it. I felt so lucky because there’s no line at all. But pffft. I saw someone who got a ticket from her and it dawned upon me that everybody there got a ticket from the staff and they’re all waiting for their numbers to be called. I’m not exaggerating but the staff was handing out tickets numbered 900+ while the store was only serving somewhere in the 600s.

I came back around 9am the following day and was able to buy 6 cans in total. Well that’s because my mom came with me. They implement a limit to the number of cans that one person can buy. At 9am, there was already a long line but it’s definitely more bearable than the queue the previous day. From the time I arrived until I got out of the store, I must have spent a total of 30 minutes for Jenny Bakery. Not bad.

So what can I say about the cookies? They’re butter cookies that are crumbly and in all honesty, buttery. But cookies are cookies and I’ve had better ones. The cookies aren’t bad but I personally will not fall head over heels for it. I don’t get the exaggerated popularity. None from the people I gave the cookies to ever raved about them. I told them the story about how I was able to purchase them and they’re all like, what? For these cookies? They actually fought for the tin cans rather than what’s inside. Am I going back? Nope. Will I recommend it? Maybe yes for the experience. Go try it yourself.

KAM TIN COUNTRY CLUB STRAWBERRIES

I also got to try freshly harvested strawberries from Kam Tin Country Club. There were three strawberry varieties to choose from: Japanese, Korean, or French. I obviously chose Korean 🙂 The fee depends on the type of strawberry and total weight of harvested berries in pounds. If I’m not mistaken, the Japanese strawberries are the most expensive of the three. We were not able to come in early so most of the red, juicy ones have been picked out. The strawberries we got were a mix of good ones, overripe ones, and ones that are not too sweet. I probably would’ve grabbed better ones from the grocery but we went there not just to eat strawberries but to experience strawberry picking as a family. And for that reason alone, I would highly recommend this.

Kam Tin Country Club, Shui Tau Tsuen, Kam Tin, New Territories

L’ATELIER DE JOEL ROBUCHON

L’Agneau

Le Foie Gras

Then I had a romantic dinner with the hubby at the 3 Michelin-star L’Atelier De Joel Robuchon. My favorites were Le Foie Gras and L’Agneau. For a complete review, please just read my post about it 🙂

GUSCHLBAUER BAKERY

A little blurry but that’s the front of the store. I went in to buy cheese buns but almost everything was sold out. The photo was taken a few minutes before closing.

And last but definitely not the least, let me share with you my encounter with the biggest and meanest cheese bun I have ever tried. Guschlbauer Bakery is a takeaway shop (no seats) in Tsim Sha Tsui that sells the best Austrian cheese buns ever! They sell other breads but people line up if only for their cheese buns. The bun that I’m holding in the photo is just a quarter of the whole thing. The store was just launched when I visited and because the buns sell out quickly, there was a limit of up to 4 slices per customer. At that time, I have observed that they close early. I was told that they had to do so because all the breads quickly sell out. I went back on our last day in Hong Kong, maybe around 11am, and the queue has just started to form. I was informed then that the cheese buns will be sold out probably in less than an hour and the next batch will come out around 2pm. I am not sure how much of that has changed but it just goes to prove that the cheese buns are definitely worth the lines for!